Financial and Business Support

See below a full breakdown of the financial and business support available to your business.

The government have a helpful support identifier questionnaire webpage which allows you to easily see the support your business is eligible for by sector, location, size, etc. See the government Business Support page here.

Furlough Scheme

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been extended until 30th September 2021. This provides support to all businesses to help keep staff employed. Employers can claim 80% of an employees monthly usual salary, for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. There will be no employer contributions beyond National Insurance contributions (NICs) and pensions, required in April, May and June. In July, employers will be asked to contribute 10% towards the cost of unworked hours and 20% in August and September. See full details here.

Grants 

Many national grants offered by the government, are being administered to businesses through their local councils. There are several types of grants administered by Merton Council for businesses affected by the National, Tier 2 and Tier 3 restrictions, based on the rateable value of a property. Details on grants for Tier 4 will be announced soon. Please read through the eligibility and applications carefully. An overview of grants can be found here.

Closed Businesses Lockdown Payment

Retail, Hospitality and Leisure businesses that were required to close due to national restrictions from 5th January, may be eligible for a one-off grant of up to £9,000. Check your eligibility and apply here.

National Restrictions Support Grant

For businesses that were required to close or adapt, due to the national lockdown restrictions between 5 November – 2 December 2020. Applications are now closed.

Local Restrictions Support Grants

• Open Businesses –  application details and timeframes for grants available to businesses that remained open but were severely impacted by Tier 2 restrictions (from 17 October – 4 November 2020 and 2-15 December 2020) and Tier 3 restrictions (16-19 December 2020) can be found here.
• Closed Businesses – details for grants available to all businesses required to close since Tier 3 restrictions came into effect in Merton on 16 December 2020 can be found here.

Local Discretionary Grants (Additional Restriction Grants)

If your small or micro business has experienced a loss of income, it may be eligible for a grant from Merton Council. A points-based system will be used to share a grant fund of at least £3.5 million between eligible businesses. The conditions that your business must meet in order to qualify for this grant include:

• Turnover of £10.2 million or less
• Employs fewer than 50 staff
• Can demonstrate a 40% reduction in income in the last financial year
• Has accommodation costs – either Business Rates, rent, mortgage or licence fees (businesses in shared spaces are included).

Your business can apply for this grant even if they have received previous grants or Business Rates Relief. To apply, you must complete an online application form between 8 April – 27 April 2021, available here.

Restart Grant

The grants were announced in the recent Budget, to support businesses in their local economies as coronavirus restrictions are eased across the country. These are one-off grants, administered by Merton Council, based on the rateable value of your business property. Only businesses on the Ratings List will be eligible to receive this grant.

• Up to £6,000 for non-essential retail business premises
  – £2,667 for properties with a rateable value of £15,000 or less
  – £4,000 for properties with a rateable value between £15,000 – £51,000
  – £6,000 for properties with a rateable value of £51,000 or over
• Up to £18,000 for hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym business premises.
  – £8,000 for properties with a rateable value of £15,000 or less
  – £12,000 for properties with a rateable value between £15,000 – £51,000
  – £18,000 for properties with a rateable value of £51,000 or over

Payments will be made on or after 1 April 2021. If you previously received a Local Restrictions grant, your grant will be paid automatically, so you do not need to apply. If you haven’t received a Local Restrictions grant, you will need to complete an application form, which will be available shortly. Click here to find out more.

Recovery Loan Scheme

This will replace the prior Bounce Back Scheme, offering loans between £25,000 and £10 million, and asset and invoice finance between £1,000 and £10 million, to help businesses of all sizes through the next stage of recovery.

Culture Recovery Fund

An extra £300 million will be added to the government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund for the arts and culture sector. Museums and cultural bodies in England will also receive £90 million to keep going until they can reopen. There will also be £18.8 million for community cultural projects

Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme

Small and medium-sized employers may be able to reclaim up to two weeks of eligible Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) costs, per employee, from the Government. Find out if you are eligible here.

VAT Reduction

The government has extended the temporary 5% reduced rate of VAT until 30 September 2021. To help businesses manage the transition back to the standard 20% rate, a 12.5% rate will then apply for a further six months, until 31 March 2022. This reduction applies to hospitality and tourism sectors only.

Business Rates

The current 100% business rate relief for retail, hospitality and leisure properties ends on 31 March 2021. This has now been extended for three months until 30 June 2021 and will be followed by 66% business rates relief for the period from 1 July 2021 to 31 March 2022. However, there is a cap at £2 million per business for properties that were required to be closed on 5 January 2021, or £105,000 per business for other eligible properties.

If you are not a retail, hospitality or leisure business and you are concerned about paying your rates, please get in touch with Merton Council on 020 8545 3919 or email at business.rates@merton.gov.uk.

Business Evictions Ban

The government has announced that business owners affected by the pandemic will be protected from eviction until the end of March 2021. This final extension will give landlords and tenants three months to come to an agreement on unpaid rent. In addition, the London Business Hub is offering a Property Advice Service and Masterclasses to help businesses understand and navigate rent negotiations. Read more here.

Help to Grow Scheme

30,000 small and medium-sized businesses will be able to benefit from learning new skills, reaching new customers and boosting profits. This 12-week programme, delivered by the UK’s leading business schools, offers businesses 1:1 support from a mentor, peer-learning sessions and an alumni network. More details here.

Business Support (advice, webinars and more)

• Peer to peer support group – free facilitated support
• Kickstart campaign – offering fully funded 6 month job opportunities to young people
• Reach Out and Connect – webinar support series for local businesses from Merton Chamber of Commerce. You can catch up on previous webinars here.
• Low cost compliance support – keep your first aid and fire warden training up to date online with a refresher course
• Merton Council Regulatory services support webinars
• CIPD
• Government help and support website for resources, e.g. videos and webinars, if your business has been affected by Coronavirus.
• London Business Hub Property Advice Webinars and Covid-19 Help Series